Tag Archives: Israel

THE LEVANT – Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Oct 28 statement of Rasmea Defense Committee: Judge Gershwin Drain handed down a series of outrageous and unjust decisions, Oct 27 – 28, in the case of revered Palestinian American leader Rasmea Odeh. The government is going all out to …

THE LEVANT – The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss Israeli plans to build more Jewish settlements in Arab east Jerusalem, diplomats said. The urgent talks were requested by Jordan following a letter from Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour, who called on the 15-member council to …

The Levant – By Julia Lugovska – US and Israeli relationships deteriorate rapidly in the recent times and have plunged to the new depths of hostility as senior Obama Administration officials slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and decried his in the recent interviews as a “chickenshit prime minister” and …

THE LEVANT – By Mark Rausch – During this summer’s Gaza assault, we the ever-flexible American audience pitched a little more sonorously than usual about Israel’s 66 years: they’re a little too aggressive, sometimes; they’re a vital Jewish presence in the Middle East; we the overt progressives of the two …

THE LEVANT – Two Israeli soldiers were wounded Wednesday when alleged drug smugglers fired shots and an anti-tank missile from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula at their vehicle patrolling the border, the army said. Troops responded to the attack, near the border community of Ezuz about 60 kilometres (37 miles) south of …

THE LEVANT – Israeli settlers moved into 10 new homes in annexed east Jerusalem on Monday, activists said, in spite of fierce local opposition and international condemnation of such takeovers. According to Jawad Siyyam, a Palestinian activist who heads the Silwan Community Centre, a group of Jewish settlers moved into …

THE LEVANT – By Geoffrey Cook – Jewish-American Civil Society has given your author insights into the Hebrew nation that he otherwise would not have. My premise has always been that you cannot successfully prevail over your opponent unless you understand his narrative, and, if reconciliation is ever to be …

THE LEVANT – By Mel Frykberg – A deliberate Israeli policy to Judaise East Jerusalem has forced thousands of Palestinians out of their homes and created a chronic housing shortage in the occupied part of the city. Simultaneously, Israeli settlers have been encouraged by the Jerusalem Municipality to settle in the …

THE LEVANT – By Thalif Deen – When the international pledging conference to rebuild a devastated Gaza ended in Cairo over the weekend – the third such conference in less than six years – the lingering question among donors was: is this the last of it or are there more assaults …

THE LEVANT – Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank allegedly carried out an arson attack on a mosque near the city of Nablus early on Tuesday, Palestinian security sources told AFP. They said worshippers in the northern West Bank village of Aqraba arriving for morning prayers found broken windows …

THE LEVANT – By Robert Bridge – A high-ranking Israeli official on Sunday slammed a statement from Catholic bishops, who called for international organizations to lead the cause of Palestinian statehood. Greek-Melchite Archbishop Cyrille Bustros sparked an interreligious firestorm when he suggested that Israel was “using Scripture” to continue its …

Oct 7, 2014ViewpointsComments Off on When Israeli denial of Palestinian existence becomes genocidal

THE LEVANT – By Ilan Pappe for Electronic Intifada – In a regal interview he gave the Israeli press on the eve of the state’s ” Independence Day,” Shimon Peres, the current president of Israel, said the following: “I remember how it all began. The whole state of Israel is …

THE LEVANT – By Shahar Benhorin, Socialist Struggle Movement – In a period of 50 days, the nearly two million residents of the devastated Gaza Strip were bombarded day and night from the air, sea and land, by an estimated 20,000 tons of explosives – the equivalent of the atomic bomb dropped …

THE LEVANT – Surrounded by the rubble of a deadly war with Israel, Gazans marked a sombre Eid al-Adha festival Saturday with prayers and visits to the graves of relatives. Thabet al-Hamami pitched a tent by the ruins of his home – one of 60,000 totally or partially destroyed by …

THE LEVANT – Israel has hit out at Sweden’s newly elected prime minister Stefan Loefven over his decision to recognise a Palestinian state. “Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that he regrets that the new prime minister was in a hurry to make statements on Sweden’s position regarding recognition of a …

THE LEVANT – Israeli Defense Forces soldiers reportedly just shot another child in the tiny Gaza Strip this week. The Palestinian teenager was from the city of Beit Lahia in the north of Gaza according to our sources. Doctors in the region say that Jalal Abu Jarad, 16, had been shot by …

THE LEVANT – The European Union on Friday condemned an Israeli plan to build 2,610 new settler homes in annexed east Jerusalem, calling it “highly detrimental” to diplomatic efforts for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Brussels called on Israel to “urgently reverse” actions leading to settlement expansion in east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians …

THE LEVANT – Israel is tightening security in flashpoint mixed Jewish-Muslim areas to ward off possible unrest this weekend when two important religious festivals coincide for the first time in three decades. The Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur begins on Friday evening, followed on Saturday by Muslim Eid al-Adha, against …

THE LEVANT – By Jonathan Cook – What is Israel’s endgame in Gaza? It is a question that has been puzzling analysts and observers for some time. But indications of the future Israel and Washington may have in mind for Gaza are emerging. Desperately overcrowded, short on basic resources like …

THE LEVANT – By Aaron Heller – It used to be that if you wanted to join one of the world’s most secretive espionage organizations you had to sneak into a foreign embassy, answer a cryptic newspaper ad or show up in a nondescript building in Tel Aviv to meet …

THE LEVANT – The Palestine Liberation Organisation said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blatantly manipulated the facts when he compared Hamas with the Islamic State group in a UN speech on Monday. “Netanyahu’s speech at the UN was a blatant manipulation of facts and attempted at misleading the audience through …

THE LEVANT – PLO Executive committee member, Hanan Ashrawi, stressed that, “It is time for the UK and other European countries to recognize the State of Palestine, Thursday said a press release issued by PLO Executive Committee Department of Culture and Information. Ashrawi called on the United Kingdom (UK) to …

THE LEVANT – Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, in a statement Wednesday, that the repeated raids on al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli settlers constitute a prelude for administering a temporal and spatial division of the mosque. The ministry condemned Israeli Government’s continuing support and financing of these raids – by settlers, …

THE LEVANT – A “solution to the conflict” between the Israelis and Palestinians will be put to the UN Security Council, French President Francois Hollande said Friday after meeting Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas in Paris. “We will have a resolution, to be presented to the Security Council, that will say …

THE LEVANT – Hamas’s former Gaza prime minister Ismail Haniya said on Saturday the militant Islamic Palestinian group would not hold any direct talks with Israel. There would be “no direct negotiations with the Zionist enemy”, Haniya said in a public address in the Gaza Strip, and called on Western-backed …

THE LEVANT – Israel’s justice ministry has charged a border policeman with assaulting and injuring a 15-year-old Palestinian-American dual national in July, according to the indictment seen by AFP Thursday. The policeman, whose name remains under a gag order, was indicted at Jerusalem magistrate’s court on Wednesday for using “excessive …

THE LEVANT – A Palestinian official said Thursday the results of an autopsy prove that a Palestinian prisoner Israel said had committed suicide actually died of a blow to the head. “We deny it was suicide,” said Issa Qaraqe, head of the Palestinian committee for prisoners in a press conference …

THE LEVANT – Israel is likely to have committed war crimes in Gaza, Human Rights Watch said Thursday, a day after the army announced five criminal investigations into incidents involving its forces. The 50-day Gaza war between Israel and Hamas-led militants ended on August 26 after killing more than 2,100 …

THE LEVANT – By Geoffrey Cook – I repose in this thick chilling fog on the edge of the eastern shore of the Pacific Rim. I, also, rest within a confusing cloud of war at the western precipice of that continent far in the distance. I recently received a notice …

THE LEVANT – A Palestinian teenager died on Sunday from injuries sustained when he was shot last week by Israeli border police in occupied east Jerusalem, his family and a hospital said. Mohammed Sinokrot, 16, was wounded by gunfire in the Wadi Joz neighbourhood where he lived, on August 31. …

THE LEVANT – Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday he doubted the current Gaza ceasefire would hold over the long term and that disarming Gaza militants was not feasible anytime soon. After briefing Israeli journalists he was quoted across the local media as saying that he thought the …

THE LEVANT – A lawsuit has been filed against the Israeli regime by actors, activists, politicians and pro-Palestinian solidarity groups in Argentina, a statement released by the Palestinian embassy in Buenos Aires said. The legal case was brought before the federal court of justice on Saturday in Argentine city of Cordoba. …

THE LEVANT – By Catherine Shakdam – While Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians date back from 1948 when hundreds of thousands of unarmed civilians – men, women and children – were forced out of their homes and their lands by Israeli troops, Israel’s latest war on Gaza has somewhat given …

THE LEVANT – Israel refused to allow a delegation composed by 13 MEPs from European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE\NGL) to enter Gaza. Facing the decision of the Netanyahu government, the president of the Party of the European Left (EL), Pierre Laurent has openly expressed his indignation: “I oppose this arbitrary …

THE LEVANT – An Israeli official confirmed Wednesday that slain American journalist Steven Sotloff was also an Israeli citizen. Foreign Ministry spokesman Paul Hirschson wrote on his personal Twitter feed: “Cleared for publication: Steven Satloff was Israel citizen RIP,” misspelling the journalist’s last name. There was no further comment from …

THE LEVANT – A jittery Israeli military is gearing up for what could become its next big battle: dealing with U.N. investigations that could result in war-crimes allegations. The army has beefed up its legal staff, is conducting internal investigations of its wartime actions and has prepared a detailed PR …

THE LEVANT – By Jonathan Cook – Despite hailing as a victory the seven weeks of fighting that killed more than 2,100 Palestinians and destroyed large swathes of Gaza’s infrastructure, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, appears to have emerged as the main political casualty of Operation Protective Edge. In late …

THE LEVANT – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday expressed dismay over the Israeli authorities’ announcement to confiscate Palestinian land in the West Bank. According to a statement issued by his spokesman Stephane Dujarric today: “The Secretary-General is alarmed by yesterday’s announcement by Israeli authorities to declare as so-called ‘state …

THE LEVANT – It has been revealed that the remains of dozens of Palestinians killed during the Israeli-Arab in 1948 were found in six mass graves in the Jaffa district of Tel Aviv on Wednesday. The graves were found when ground subsided as builders carried out renovation work in the area, …

THE LEVANT – By Connie Bruck – The lobbying group AIPAC has consistently fought the Obama Administration on policy. Is it now losing influence? For AIPAC, it is crucial to appeal across the political spectrum. But Israel has become an increasingly divisive issue with the public. CREDIT Illustration by Matt Dorfman On July 23rd, officials of …

THE LEVANT – Egypt’s most active militant group, Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis, said on Thursday it had beheaded four Egyptian men for spying for Israel, accusing them of providing information that helped an Israeli air raid kill three of the group’s fighters last month. Earlier in August, decapitated bodies of four …

THE LEVANT – An Iranian general said Wednesday that a purported Israeli drone shot down near a nuclear facility in the Islamic Republic flew in from a northern country that once was part of the Soviet Union. The semi-official Fars news agency, close to the Revolutionary Guard, quoted Gen. Masoud …

THE LEVANT – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that Israel achieved a “great military and political” victory over Hamas in the latest round of fighting in the Gaza Strip has met with skepticism from many Israelis, according to a poll published Thursday. The poll, published in the left-leaning Haaretz newspaper, shows …